Destined to Repeat
by Jeice Lover
Summary: The strands of fate can be odd and confusing, like the filaments in a spider's web. They can twist and turn in any which way imaginable. However, if just one of these threads were to change, all of the others would twist along with it. So, what might happen if just one thread were to twist, bringing together two threads that have been separated since days of old?
1. Chapter 1

_Long ago, in the days that the dark still fought strong against the light, there was a point where it seemed that the light of humans might be extinguished. Even with their bravery, valor, and will to fight for the lives they loved, the humans were weak against the monsters that the darkness conjured. It seemed that not even Dust, their mightiest weapon, could turn the war around from this point. Humanity, it seemed, would be erased from the world, and the light would be extinguished. Forever._

_However, on their darkest day, when all people could do nothing but fall to their knees and pray for a spark to light the way to victory, She appeared._

_A lone girl, no more than sixteen years of age, with no one knowing who she was or from whence she came, entered the rooms of the king and walked past the people. Dressed in the armor of a man, but with her beautiful face clear for all to see, she walked up to the king and fell on one knee. With head bowed, she addressed him:_

"_**My good and gentle ruler, I have come to you under a divine guide. I have received a message, from the King who rules all kings. He has proclaimed that your armies shall stand strong and push back the darkness, and save His people from destruction. I beg of you, my good sire, grant me 100 men and as many horses, and I shall drive back the creatures who threaten to extinguish our light."**_

_The king, desperate to find a way to grant his people hope, gave the girl what she wanted, and ordered his troops to follow her as their commander. With a mighty blade grasped in one hand, and a shield emblazoned with a duo of crescent moons, she led the way, and forged herself and her troops through the darkness._

Soft, muted sunlight began to drift into the bedroom, slipping just past the heavy curtains over the windows. Under his sheets, a sleeping blond stirred, and slowly sat up in bed. He yawned loudly, stretching his arms up over his head. He had slept like a rock last night, he hardly remembered his dream about...whatever it was he had been dreaming about. Blue eyes blinked slowly, and he scratched his head with his right hand. The morning was peaceful and quiet, and he felt relaxed.

That is, until he glanced at the clock on his bedside table.

"I SLEPT IN!"

–

The time after Jaune had woken up were spent in a flurry of activity up until he left his house. Luckily his bags had been packed the night before, or he wouldn't have gotten out of the house just in the nick of time. His mother and father had been awoken by his stumbling around the house, were just there to kiss and hug him out the door, as they knew their son wanted to make his way to his school all on his own.

"Goodbye, _mon petit Jaune_," his mother smiled as she kissed him on the forehead. "I hope you have a good time in your boarding school."

"Of course he will, Marie, don't be ridiculous. You're going to have a wonderful time at Roscuro, aren't you?" Jaune almost paused, but caught himself.

"Sure will, dad," he smiled, almost a bit too much. He still hadn't revealed to his parents that he had been 'accepted' into Beacon Academy for Hunstmen and Huntresses, and would not be attending Roscuro Academy for the Artistically Gifted as they had planned. He didn't care what they had said when he was a child, he had the blood of warriors in him! And, hey, Beacon was a combat school, so who cared if he didn't know how to fight? He would just learn there, right? His father, unaware of their son's differing ideas, smiled warmly and clapped him on the shoulder.

"That's my boy." He glanced off to Jaune's mother, and leaned in to whisper confidentially. "Now, you remember what I told you about winning girls, right?" The blond chuckled and nodded.

"I know, I know. Confidence." His father grinned again, and pulled his son in for a warm hug, which Marie quickly joined in on.

"You're going to do us proud, Jaune, I know you will. Just do your best, and remember, we love you no matter what."

"I know, mom... thanks." He kissed his parents goodbye again, and ran out the door towards the waiting taxi, waving over his shoulder. "I'm gonna make you guys proud! I promise!" he shouted, waving.

_Just not in the way you think I will._


	2. Chapter 2

_The general stood in the center of her camp, looking about at the bustling of her soldiers. It was almost as if the army's camp was a little town. There was the mess tent, where people would get their supplies. Then there was a couple of the soldiers tents that had somehow turned into a sort of barter center (all contraband items quickly found and discarded of, if there were any, of course). Then there were the tents, lined up so orderly and neatly. Even the soldiers going about their duties seemed almost normal. Even in spite of the weapons they carried, and their bodies so full of scars, they carried themselves just as if they were anyone else. And this filled her with pride._

_However, when she looked more, she found something odd. There was one person who was not within the hustle and bustle of the army camp. Curious, she strode over to the spot and stood beside them. It was a young man, perhaps a year or so younger than herself. He was lying out on the grass, eyes closed, and seemingly sleeping in the shade of a large oak tree._

"_**You, what is it you are doing over here? Why are you not joining all the rest in their joyful times? This is a brief time of rest before the war begins, you ought to be enjoying yourself.**"_

_The lad opened his eyes, and the general found a pair of bright, silver eyes staring up at her._

"_**Oh, you need not fear, general, I am enjoying myself. I am only taking a nap out here in nature. I felt as though a brief nap might be a good thing to replenish the body and give myself a touch of inner peace before our battles.**" He looked up at her, with her thin, squared shoulders supporting the heavy armor on her petite frame, and the short-cut blonde locks that framed her face._

"_**Still, you ought to join with all the rest. This army needs to have its fullest potential for cooperation if we wish to push back the darkness. So you ought to come to know your fellows before that. Here.**"_

_The general extended a hand down to him, thin fingers reaching towards him as sky blue eyes gazed upon his relaxed face, and those odd silver eyes of his. The soldier gazed up at her, for just a moment, but finally took up her hand and allowed her help in pulling him to his feet. As the dark red cloak over his shoulders picked up in the afternoon breeze._

–

Jaune wiped at his mouth. Airships. _Why_ did it have to be airships? The one thing that made him vomit more than anything else in this world? He _really_ hoped no one would recognize his face. This was probably the worst first day in the entire history of worst first days.

Well...maybe _second_ worst. He was hanging around a tree, trying to recover from his vomiting session and gain his bearings on where to go next, when he overheard a commotion. Well, more like an explosion. He had jumped when a gigantic 'boom' seemed to rock the ground itself, and looked to find its source. That wasn't difficult, considering how that girl in all white was yelling at some girl with a red cape. He felt sort of sorry for her, really. That girl was really laying into her.

He felt bad, but kept watching, until some girl in black came up. She said something, he was too far to hear what exactly, and the white girl snatched something away from the red girl and stomped off, after which the black girl seemed to sashay off in the opposite direction.

"Geez, wonder what all that was about," he wondered aloud to himself. Talking out loud was a bad habit, he knew, but he couldn't help it sometimes. As he watched on, he saw the girl in red fall onto her knees, and then onto her back. Normally he was one to try and stay on the sidelines, but he was at Beacon now. He was training to be a hero to help people. Besides, his mother had always taught him to help people in need of a helping hand or a supporting shoulder. So, he walked up to the girl on her back, and held out a hand.

"Hey." He spoke, letting her know that he was there. He saw her move and look up at him, and he went on. "I'm Jaune." The hand was still extended, and he was looking at her kindly. He hoped that she would accept, he genuinely wanted to help.

"...Ruby." She took his hand, and he helped to pull her to her feet. Now that he looked at her... she was really young looking. Her face was very youthful, and her build wasn't quite mature like most other girls their age... if she _was_ his age. He wasn't sure... But her looks weren't really what made him look at her closely. It was her eyes. Bright silver, like people used to say the moon was in days of old...

His moment of silent contemplation was interrupted when she snorted with laughter.

"Aren't you the guy who threw up on the ship?"


	3. Chapter 3

_The youth narrowed his eyes and rushed through the forest, bright eyes keeping an eye on every shadow as bright petals trailed in his wake. His semblance was allowing him to move swift as the northern winds, but speed alone was not his goal at this moment. The orders had been simple: scatter out into the forest from their divergence point on the cliffs, and find one another later, slaying as many of the dark creatures as crossed their paths. There were secondary orders there as well. When one soldier found another, they were to stay by their side until the army re-grouped as a whole once more._

_He stopped suddenly, feeling the rush of his cloak catch up to him as the cloth was flung against his body. There was something out there, watching... he could feel it in his bones. He reached for his weapon, a rather unconventional twin-headed axe. Unusual for a soldier of the king's army, not so for a woodcutter, as that was what he had been before he had chosen to use his skills to assist the people against the darkness._

_A dark shape lunged from the shadowy underbrush, and the woodcutter, snapped to a defensive stance. The creature was upon him, large and fanged, with glowing crimson eyes glaring into his very soul. He retreated a few steps, aided by his semblance, and forged into battle with the beast. It slashed with claws, snapped with fangs, and attempted to crush him with its massive, dark body. However, his heavy axe countered these swipes, and he matched the beast blow for blow._

_The woodsman forced the creature back, determination flashing behind bright silver eyes. Slowly, he was backing the beast closer to a tree, and ever closer to its demise. He was swinging his axe back, prepared to make the final blow, when he heard the sound of steel slicing through the air. The beast froze before him and, with a low whimper, fell heavily to the ground at his feet. The woodcutter looked up, and was astounded to see his general there, standing on the back of the fallen behemoth. She stared down at him with a sharp gaze, sky colored eyes wise and brave far beyond their years._

"_Has the beast harmed you?" she asked with a voice whose tone was soft, yet woodcutter gazed up at his commander, and smiled slightly._

"_No... you slayed it before it could," he responded. It was not for him to say that he had been doing well enough on his own. It was an honor to be assisted in battle by one's superior officers, let alone a general._

"_That is good, I don't like to think of one of my soldier being harmed by one of the Grimm. I am happy I got here in time to stop it." She hopped off of the beast's back, and walked past him into the woods. "Come, we do not have time to dally here, there is much ground to cover before nightfall. As of now, you are my partner, and will remain as such until we exit the forest."_

"_Yes sir," the woodsman responded, smiling. And so, with the general in the lead, the two continued on to forge their way through the Diopside Forest._

–

"_BIRDY NO!_" Ruby cried out as she slammed right into a small, passing bird, on her descent into the forest. The teen grimaced as she shot aside a few obstacle branches in her flight-path, then extended her scythe in order to swing herself up and over a tree, until she landed neatly on the ground. At which point, she leaped to her feet and sprinted forward.

_Whew, that was close_, she thought to herself as she ran on, unimpeded by bushes or trees. _Now, just gotta find Yang. Then we'll be together, and she'll be my partner. And I won't have to team up with anyone and have things be all awkward. It'll all be good._ She smiled at the thought, until another thought came to her. _Oh no, but what if she already found someone and has a partner when I find her? Oh, what'll I do?!_

Ruby made a slightly panicked face at the thought. No worries, there could be someone else. Let's see...there was maybe Weiss. She seemed really smart, and strong!... no, Weiss didn't like her. Oh! Or maybe Blake! She liked books, and was so mysterious. Then again, she was so quiet, might be hard to make a conversation with her... The girl growled in frustration. Think Ruby! Wasn't there anyone else?! There had to be someone or...or... Was that screaming she heard?

The brunette looked up, and started when she saw a screaming speck hurtle overhead.

"Jaune?!" Ruby said in surprise, watching him flip through the air with no control over his motions. "Oh no! Hang on Jaune! I'm coming to help!" The girl took off like a shot, using her semblance to keep pace with him. Oh, but this was still bad. Very very bad. She wasn't running fast enough, and he was still falling. If he kept up like this, then he'd..." She was abruptly interrupted in her thoughts when she heard something quickly approaching. Before she could even turn to look, she saw a streak of red fly through the air, snag Jaune's hood, and carry him a small ways further into the woods before she heard the sound of something sticking into a tree.

"...Thank you!" she could hear Jaune say loudly from a ways ahead of her. From somewhere behind, Ruby thought she could hear the faint sound of someone calling an apology in return. Ruby made her way through the brush, and cam into a clearing where she found Jaune, dangling from a tree by a long, red javeline that had impaled his hood. From whas she could see, he was trying, and failing, to pull himself free from the weapon.

"Ugh...Come! On! You! Stupid!" With each word, he was trying to pull the weapon out by the staff, but it wasn't budging.

"Jaune?" The blond started when he heard someone down below him, and smiled with a touch of embarrassment when he saw Ruby standing there.

"Oh... uh... Hey there...Ruby," he said slowly. Ruby giggled a bit, seeing him dangling up there.

"Do you need help getting down from there?" she asked, smiling.

"What? Me? No, I mean, I'm fine. I'll get myself down in a minute and..." he trailed off, seeing the incredulous smile she had on her face. "Yeah, I'm sorta stuck. I could use a little help getting down. Please." Ruby smiled and laughed a bit more.

"Okay, Jaune, give me a minute and I'll help you down." Ruby got out Crescent Rose, and held it at the ready. "Hold still." She leaped into the air, arcing her scythe so it hit the staff of the red javeline, knocking it out of the tree, and sending both it, and Jaune, to the ground. The blond yelled a bit, and them let out an 'oof' when he hit the ground. "There you go," Ruby smiled helpfully.

"Ugh...thank you, Ruby," Jaune said as he shakily pushed himself to his elbows. Ruby picked up the javeline that had pinned him, wondering why it looked so familiar. Suddenly, there was a rustle in the bushes, and she looked up in surprise. She was about to drop the other weapon and ready Crescent Rose, when she heard familiar voices from the other side of the brush.

"From what you told me of it's trajectory, I believe that your javeline should have landed right about...oh." From out of the bushes, a familiar head of white hair emerged gingerly. Weiss narrowed her eyes when she saw Ruby standing there, not to mention Jaune still lying on the ground. "Oh, it's you," she said flatly.

"Did you say something, Weiss?" came another voice from the bushes. From in-between the brush appeared Pyrrah, the redheaded girl whom Ruby recognized as having pinned Jaune with the same weapon earlier that day. "Ah, one of our comrades in arms, hello," the redhead greeted in a friendly tone.

"Hi," Ruby responded with a smile. "Um... here's your spear-thingy," she said as she held out Pyrrah's weapon.

"Ah, you've picked up Milo for me. Thank you." She took her weapon from Ruby, then looked down at Jaune, who was just getting up from his knees. "Are you alright?"

"Huh? Y-yeah, I'm fine," Jaune said, rubbing the back of his head. "Just, ah...thanks for the save back there. I probably would have splatted if you hadn't helped me out there.

"I'm glad that I could have helped," Pyrrah reponded simply. There was a touch of silence between the four, which quickly became awkward. After a few moments of this, Jaune turned towards the forest and pointed.

"Well I...guess we'd better be going then," he said awkwardly. "Come on Ruby."

"Huh?" Ruby looked at him with confusion.

"We're partners, remember? First person you meet in the forest is the one you're supposed to partner up with...I _was_ the first person you met, right?"

"Wah... ah! Right! You were!" Ruby remembered suddenly. "Um, so... yeah, you're right, let's get going," she said. The two in agreement, they walked off towards the trees, still waving back at the new pair of Pyrrah and Weiss. "Um, we'll catch you guys later! See you back at the cliffs!"

"Goodbye," Pyrrah answered with her own wave, looking slightly disappointed for some reason. With these final goodbyes said, the new duo of Jaune and Ruby went on, and disappeared into the trees.


	4. Chapter 4

_The blonde general and the red-clad soldier made their way through the woods resolutely, radiating a feeling of strength and inner calm as they made their way bravely through the forest. There may have been creatures of darkness in the forest, but they were fighters of light. They had already felled many other creatures of Grimm, and were proceeding without halt or hesitation._

"_**How far do you believe it to be before we reach the cliffs?**" the red-cloaked warrior asked. The General gazed upwards, shading her eyes with a hand as she scanned up over the tree line._

"_**Not much further now**," she replied. "**Perhaps another hour or so's hike, given we don't come across any more creatures on our way.**" The soldier nodded, and continued following along the path she carved. After not too long, however, it seemed the fates decided they required a test before proceeding further._

_As the duo rounded a tree, they found themselves assailed on both sides, with two beowolves snarling and snapping their razor-sharp fangs at them. In a moment, their weapons were drawn, and they were prepared to defend themselves against the sudden onslaught. However, they were calm and cool. These creatures were not to be feared, they were to be fought and defeated. No fear, no backing away from a battle. The creatures of Grimm were the enemy, and they should be taken down with no hesitation._

"_**Are you prepared to do battle, soldier**?" the General asked coolly._

"_**After you, my Lady**," the red-cloaked boy responded, almost impishly so. And so, when the creatures of Grimm lunged at the two of them, they were already in action._

–

"Um, Ruby... " The red-caped girl looked at the boy she was with, and blinked at him.

"Yeah, Jaune?" she asked. They had been wandering around the Emerald Forest for a long while, and she was starting to get a bit worried. Had they taken a wrong turn? Was it her fault? Oh, she couldn't have her partner hate her on the first day!

"Uh, yeah... I think I might have gotten us lost." Ruby whipped around and stared at him with wide eyes. Jaune paused, thinking that she was angry at him. However, instead of yelling at him, she burst out laughing. He was immensely confused, and stood there while she was bent over and busting a gut with mirth. "Um... Ruby?"

"Ahaha! No, no no no, I'm not- ha ha~ -I'm not laughing at _you_ Jaune," she managed through her laughter. She waited until she had it more under control (and it was easier to breathe) before she went on. "I'm laughing because _I_ was just worrying if _I_ was the one who had gotten us lost. I thought you were following me, and I was afraid I had screwed up." Jaune blinked at her with surprise.

"Really? Because _I_ thought that _you_ were following me, and I was afraid I had screwed up and led us off-track." They stared at each other a moment, and then they _both_ burst into a bout of laughter. This went on for some minutes until they had run out of breath, not to mention their sides hurting.

"I guess we were just following each other, then," Ruby managed when she was able to breathe properly again. Jaune nodded in agreement, and then they stood there, looking at each other. "So... what do we do now?" The question seemed to startle the boy, and he looked around the forest.

"Right, right, um... what to do what to do..." he muttered. "Uuuuhhhhhmmmmm..." As he tried to think, Ruby stood doing some of her own. However, she looked up when she heard a rustling from somewhere to their left.

"Shh, do you hear that?" she asked. Jaune looked up, confused, and suddenly looking a bit nervous.

"Hear what?" he asked. Suddenly, a snarl ripped through the quiet of the forest, and a beowolf burst through the greenery. Jaune yelped and jumped back, but Ruby jumped forward, pulling out Crescent Rose and pulling back the bolt in preparation to shoot.

"Come on, Jaune! Pull out your sword, it's just one! We can take him easy!"

"WH-wha? Oh right, sword!" He fumbled a bit, but finally managed to pull out his weapon (even though when he finally got a hold on it, his hand was shaking like crazy). Even his shield seemed to be held lopsided, and he looked like a fish out of water before this giant beast.

"I'll get him from the back, Jaune. You can distract him from the front," Ruby said quickly, before vanishing in a flurry of rose petals.

"Wait, what?! Ruby!" Jaune looked up, suddenly aware that he was being overshadowed by a creature more than twice his size. "Uhhh..." By chance, he saw the creature swing its arm at him from the side, and so he just barely managed to dodge out of the way of the blow. It snarled and continued on after him, each time just missing him with its claws by a hair's breadth, as he only just kept managing to dodge out of the way. "Ruby! A little help please?!" he called out in a slight panic, just as a claw swung so close to him, he swore he saw a couple pieces of hair being shaved off. "_Ruby!_"

"Yaaaaaaaahh!" Suddenly, from out of nowhere, he heard a female voice calling out a battle-cry, and a flash of red zoomed like a comet down to earth. Before the wolf-creature could even look up, it was impaled from the back by a large, curved scythe blade, and it collapsed just inches from Jaune. Ruby popped up a moment later, standing on its back. "Whew... sorry I took so long, Jaune, had some trouble climbing up the tree. You okay?"

"Who, me?" Jaune was shaky on his feet, and was trembling a bit. "Yeah, I'm fine. Yup, _totally_ cool..."

"Cool," the brunette chirped. "Let's get going then, we still need to find that place so we can get the artifact thingy. Come on~" she stared up hiking through the woods again, seemingly unfazed by the battle they had just been in. Jaune stared after her in disbelief. Ruby turned around, realizing he wasn't right behind her. "You coming?"

"Y-yeah... coming."

–

"It seems our final teams have been formed, Professor Ozpin." Glynda Goodwitch looked down at her tablet, observing the movements of the students as they made their way through the initiation challenge. "Weiss Schnee and Pyrrha Nikkos, then Ruby Rose and Jaune Arc." The blonde woman furrowed her brow as she looked at the device in her hand.

"Is there a problem, Glynda?" Ozpin asked. She glanced at him from the corner of her eyes.

"Ozpin, you know that I still have my reservations about you allowing someone so young to enroll in Beacon. She may have skills beyond her age, but I really have my doubts that her maturity is as advanced as her ability in wielding that scythe." She tapped her finger against the side of her tablet. "And honestly, I have doubts about Mr. Arc as well. I don't care what his transcripts say, he is _not_ ready for this level of combat... Professor Ozpin?" She glanced over at him, but even then he didn't respond to her analysis on Ruby and Jaune.

All he did was gaze down at his tablet, making small thinking noises as he observed the two bolting through the forest.


	5. Chapter 5

"_M'lady, there have been fewer of the creatures of Grimm in our path as of late." The general glanced off to either side, nodding in acknowledgment of her companion's observations._

"_I agree. It has become rather quiet... perhaps a bit _too_ quiet," she murmured lowly. "Something feels...off." There was a rustle in the brush, and the duo tensed for battle, but then relaxed when they only saw two others come from out of the leaves, A large young man and a thin young woman. "Ah, it is two of our comrades in arms. Greetings."_

"_Hello, general," the other girl greeted. "It is a pleasure to see you here in the forest. We had just been wondering where our fellow warriors might be. I am honored that our first companion we meet here is our general."_

"_The honor is all mine, meeting brave fellow warriors such as yourselves," she responded. The young man hefted his weapon over his shoulder, and looked towards the trees, the peak of their meeting point rising up overhead._

"_If I may, my lady, perhaps we could travel together until we reach the end? There is more safety in greater numbers, after all." After a moment of thought, the blonde smiled, and nodded._

"_Yes, I believe that sounds like a grand idea."_

–

"Ruby?!" Ruby glanced behind her, where her new partner was.

"What?!" she yelled back at him, struggling to be heard over the roar of the wind.

"I still think that this was a really bad idea!" Ruby rolled her eyes and tried to grin back at him.

"Jaune! For the last time, we're fine!" she yelled back at him. She looked down, careful not to let go, and laughed. "Yeah! I can see the temple already! Just down there, see?!"

"Ruby, I _really_ don't think I want to look down right about now!" Jaune shouted, feeling his stomach do back-flips and front-flips and somersaults in his abdomen. Airships were bad enough. Airships were enough to make him feel queasy. But this?! How had he let himself get talked into this?! "How are we even supposed to get down from here?!"

"Easy! We jump!" Jaune let out a noise and looked up from clutching his eyes shut.

"Jump?! Are you crazy?!" he almost shrieked at the girl. However, by the time he looked, she was already gone, and he was all alone up there. "..._Why me?_" he moaned to himself.

–

"Yee-haaaaw~" There was the sound of splintering wood and crashing foliage, then an Ursa burst out of the trees, roared, and collapsed into the grass. When it fell, the girl on its back zipped onto the grass to look at it. "Aww, it's broken," she whined. From up behind her, a boy in green came up, bent over and resting heavily with his hands on his bent knees.

"Nora? Please... never do that again," he gasped. However, when he looked up, she was already gone, and he spotted her over at the temple they had been searching for, holding what looked to be a golden chess piece in the familiar shape of a horse, signifying the knight. She was jumping around, singing something about being 'queen of the castle'. "_Nora!_" he shouted. She giggled and pranced back over to him.

"Coming, Ren~" she smiled. "Wow, that was really easy, huh?" she asked cheerfully.

"Yeah, I guess," he sighed. He was about to say something else, but then there was a sudden rustling in the brush. The two prepared to fight again, in case it was another creature of Grimm, but then then lowered their weapons when all that emerged from the bushes was a white-haired girl and another redheaded girl carrying a javelin, running at top speed, then stopping with hands on knees and resting at hips.

"I...think we've... lost it... Pyrrha," Weiss said, trying to breathe more slowly.

"I... believe so," The redhead responded, though with breathing that was a bit less heavy. Ren glanced at them for a moment, but then turned his attention back to a fidgeting Nora.

"Well, anyways, at least we got our relic. Looks like almost everyone has been here before us, though." He looked over to where there were already two other girls, a blonde and an onyxette who were picking our their relic. "Come on, Nora, we should get... do you hear that?" he asked suddenly. It sounded like someone... screaming?

"_Heads uuuuuuppppp!_" He looked upwards, and saw a girl flailing about as she fell through the air, screaming at the top of her lungs. When it seemed she was about to crash into the ground, and them, she suddenly whipped out a scythe, used the curve of it to swing herself around a tree branch, then landed herself in a rolling tumble in the grass. "Whew... that was close," she murmured. She looked at Ren, who was blinking at her, and Nora, who was laughing with a big grin on her face. "Whoops, sorry about that. Didn't mean to almost crash into you," she apologize quickly.

"No, it's fine," the boy replied. "At least you didn't actually hit us."

"Oh, it's just _you_," the heiress muttered when she saw Ruby recover herself from her landing.

"Whew, that was _fun_," Ruby laughed aloud. Pyrrha stepped forward, and looked around in concern and confusion.

"Wait a moment... Ruby, where is-?"

"_Eeeyaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!_" Weiss started when she heard something from up above, and let out a yelp when she saw something falling right at her. With a swift motion of her hand, a silver-white glyph had formed above her to shield her from whatever it was. In moments, Jaune finally made contact: falling right onto the glyph, bouncing off, and then flipping and slamming face-first into the ground, twitching. "_Oowwww..._" he moaned into the dirt.

"Jaune!" Ruby raced forward, sliding on her knees to where he was lying. "Jaune, are you okay?" she asked, pushing at his body to try and roll him over onto his back. "Jaune, speak to me!" He groaned, and gazed blearily upwards, though to him her face was blurry, and he could see stars and tiny beowolves circling about his head.

"That was... cold... Snow Angel." He managed to mutter this, then collapsed his head back into the ground. Ruby sighed with relief, he was okay. However, then she looked up, and she grinned when she saw the familiar face of her sister.

"Yang~" she sang out.

"Ruby!" Yang called in turn, but then Nora popped in-between them both and shouted out her own name, causing both sisters to recoil. "Glad to see you, baby sis~" Yang said once she recovered from the shock of Nora's sudden appearance. "So, I'm guessing that guy on the ground there is your partner?" She pointed at Jaune, still groaning on the grass.

"Yup. Yang, this is Jaune. Jaune, this is my big sister, Yang." Yang grinned and waved at the boy.

"Hey Jaune," she greeted. All he managed was to lift his head and groan, but the fell back again. "... Is he gonna' be alright?" Yang asked. Ruby smiled and waved her hand.

"Oh, don't worry about it. He'll be fine. He just had a rough landing is all, right Jaune?" There was another groan from the blond, and she waved her hand. "See? Fiinneee," she insisted. "He just needs a minute to catch his breath." She looked at the place they had landed in, and smiled. "Oh, wow, we jumped at just the right time. See, Jaune? I told you it was fine~"

"Y... yeah... I guess," the boy replied as he shakily sat himself up. Weiss sauntered up to them, and gave them a look.

"Um, excuse me, but you said you jumped to get here? What exactly did you jump fro-?" The heiress was cut off when there was a loud screeching noise overhead. All present looked up, and they jumped when they saw a giant, dark, bird shape soaring in overhead, screeching loudly. "A Nevermore?! You rode a _Nevermore_ to get here?! Are you _insane_?!" she snapped at the other girl.

She appeared about to say something else, but stopped when there was a loud crashing from the trees. From somewhere just behind them, a giant scorpion-like creature burst from the trees. Jaune yelped and shot up to a standing position, somewhat hiding behind Ruby as the thing came at them. Weiss and Pyrrha in particular looked shocked.

"What's the Death Stalker doing here?! I thought we had lost it!" Weiss asked in surprise.

"I don't know, I suppose it managed to find our trail," Pyrrha answered. All those who were about looked at one another, and a small speck of agreement seemed to come between them all.

"Uh, I think it would be a good idea for us to get out of here," Jaune said quickly, glancing between both of the monsters on their way to them.

"Right, I don't think we should try to fight both of them at the same time," Ruby agreed. "All we have to do is grab our relics and get back to the cliffs. So let's grab them and go!" There were sounds of mutual agreement from all of them, and they all prepared to bolt. But first, Jaune ran up to the temple and grabbed the first piece he could get. A fist-sized, golden chess piece in the shape of a castle. Pyrrha, who had gotten there at about the same time, snatched up the shape of a golden horse. They only just managed to glance at one another before running back for their people.

"Ruby! I got it, let's go!" Jaune shouted as he came up. Ruby nodded, and they both took off. To their side, one could see Pyrrha and Weiss bolting in the same direction, with Yang and Blake close behind on their side.

"Nora!" The redhead followed Ren's call, and they ran along behind, following Ruby and Jaune's path.

Running together, they all made their way to the cliffs, hearing the screeching of the Nevermore soaring above, and the hisses of the Death Stalker trying to follow behind on the ground.


	6. Chapter 6

_The three soldiers stood before their general, as she addressed them in her gentle, yet strong voice._

"_My fellows in arms, I would like to thank you all for being to my aid within the forest. We all fought well this day, and so I hope that we shall be able to continue as such in combat. If it may be so bold of me, I would like to request that, when we go into combat again, that we may come together as a group again. I know that others amongst our troops are planning for the same thing, and I encourage this. No soldier ought to ever fight alone. And if we are to defeat the creatures of Grimm and push back the darkness, then we shall need all of our strength combined to do so. Will you all join me in this fight, so that together we may aid those in need?"_

"_I agree!"_

"_It is sensible that we should."_

"_It would be of the greatest honor."_

_The yellow-haired maiden smiled warmly, and she gripped her blade in her hand._

"_Then, with the might of our king above all kings behind us, let us forge through the darkness together, and clear a path for the light under which we are protected." All at once, the maid began glowing with a brilliant, pure-white gleam that covered all of her form, and enhanced the warmth of the sun in the sky. "And let us bring forth a future of peace and prosperity for all those who walk the path behind us."_

–

Jaune winced as he rubbed at his still-sore arm. What an eventful time this has been, and by this point it's only been a few days since joining this school. Within the past 96 hours he had gotten motion sickness from a giant aircraft, had his first battle against the creatures of Grimm, ridden on the back of a Nevermore, and then helped in the defeat of said Nevermore. Honestly, he had been the one to come up with that crazy plan to kill it, but even he hadn't expected the sheer power that Ruby had utilized in order to decapitate it.

With the combined efforts of his plan, Ren's ability to swing them up high, Nora's hammer rocketing them up, and Ruby's mad rush up the cliff, the bird-creature had fallen apart like an old rag doll.

But still, even that hadn't been the biggest shock of that day...

"_Pyrrha Nikos. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long. And Blake Belladonna." The four young huntresses walked up to the stage, and stood respectfully before he headmaster. "The four of you collected the white night pieces. Henceforth, you shall all be known as... Team Newblood." Up on the board, images of their initials below their pictures combined into 'NWBL'. "Led by... Pyrhha Nikos." There was a round of muted clapping from those surrounding. Blake nodded towards the redhead, and Yang gave her a congratulatory thumbs-up. Everyone seemed pleased by their given team name... except, it seemed, for Weiss, who looked at Pyrrha with utter shock and... a bit of ire perhaps?_

_However, the four cleared the stage, and then the last of the batch of newcomers came up. Jaune gulped as he stood off at the side, staring up at Ozpin. The headmaster's golden eyes examined each of the new students before him._

"_Jaune Arc. Ruby Rose. Lie Ren. Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces." Jaune thought back to the forest, when he had just up and grabbed the closest chess piece he could find for himself and Ruby. "As of this day, you shall now be known as... Team Journey." Like all the teams before them, their faces and initials assembled into the order of their team's name: JRRN. "Led by... Jaune Arc." The blond jumped as he looked at the headmaster. Wait, what? Leader?_ _**Him? **Why was he the leader?!_

"_L-led by?..." he barely managed to choke out through the lump in his throat. The old headmaster only glanced down at the boy, smiling enigmatically._

"_Congratulations, young man," he said softly._

–

Even today, after a whole first day of classes, he _still_ couldn't believe all that had happened. His father had mentioned that _he_ had been a leader of a team, but... was it possible for _him_ to be a leader, too? He had no experience in combat! He had barely made it out of the forest alive! Anything brave that he might have done to get the headmaster's attention was all a bunch of flukes. But he couldn't very well go and tell Ozpin that he had made a mistake, wouldn't that make him look suspicious?

_I'm really starting to regret this..._ he thought to himself. _...No! I can't give up yet! This is what I've wanted to do since forever! What kind of hero am I if I just give up after a couple of days! Dad wouldn't have! And neither would grandpa! And... well... yeah, none of the rest would have either. I just need to make it through this, I can learn, that's what I came here for. Just can't lose confidence now. Have to keep positive. Have to-_

"Hey, Jaune." The blond jumped when the voice of another person interrupted his thoughts. He looked behind him, and saw with some measure of relief that it was only Ren.

"Oh, um... hey there, Ren. Back so soon?"

"Yeah. I already had all of my school supplies. Nora wanted to go to the school store and pick some pencils and thing, Ruby volunteered to go with her to keep an eye on her for me." The onyxette sighed with exhaustion and sat himself on his bed. "Well, it'll be good to have a bit of quiet time for a moment. Nora's a good friend, but it can get sort of exhausting being around her all the time."

"I can imagine," Jaune smiled. Just spending this first day with Nora on the team had already half tired him out of her. The two teens sat in silence for a few minutes after that. It was one of those awkward silences where both parties wanted to begin a conversation, but neither knew what to say to start it. Eventually, Jaune stopped awkwardly standing, and sat himself down on his bunk. A slight shiver ran through him as he felt the looming shape of Ruby's bed hanging down over his head. Why oh _why_ had he let himself get talked into this bunk beds idea? Sure it seemed nice at the time, saved space and what not, but it wasn't exactly comfortable to have a bed dangling over your head, supported only by ropes whose strength you severely doubted. With another wince, he rubbed at his injured arm a bit more, maybe he ought to go to the nurse or something.

"...You've been doing that a lot." Jaune looked up at Ren again, who was staring at his arm. "Did you hurt yourself?"

"What, my arm?" Jaune asked. He tried to look casual, and took his hand off of the injured area. "Nah, I'm totally fine. Just got a bit bruised up during initiation, nothing big."

"Can I see?" Jaune gave the other boy a confused expression before an explanation was given. "My mom is a doctor back where I come from. She's good with acupuncture and herbs and things. She taught me a few things, maybe I could help somehow."

"Oh, well... alright then." Ren came and stood beside Jaune as the blond fiddled with his armor and de-tatched the shoulder plate, then rolled up his sleeve. When it was all clear, the injury was clear to see. It was a large, dark, purple-black bruise that extended all up and down his bicep. Ren's eyebrows contracted slightly as he sat down next to him. He gently took Jaune's arm in his hands and looked over the injury with narrowed eyes. "Well?"

"This is a really big injury, Jaune. It's just a bruise, but I don't understand how you got something like this. Did your aura not activate when you got it?"

"My what?" Ren's eyes shot up to Jaune, and looked at him questioningly.

"Your _aura_."

"Gesundheit." Pink orbs narrowed and bored into Jaune's face, trying to comprehend the answer to what ought to have been a simple question. However, when the face that met his question was only filled with confusion, a slight suspicion filled him.

"Jaune... do you _know_ what aura is?" Immediately, Jaune tensed up. Oh no, was that something he was supposed to know? Was his new teammate suspicious of him now?

"I... _yeah_, of _course_ I know what aura is. I mean, who wouldn't?" Jaune said, trying to bluff his way through this. "...Do _you_ know what aura is?"

"Yes, I do. I use it all the time when I fight." This flat-out answer threw Jaune off a bit, but it seemed he didn't have to explain himself. "Aura is a protective manifestation of the soul. Living things with souls project out our aura and use it to protect ourselves from harm."

"Like... a force field?"

"...Something like that," Ren answered. That was odd. Aura was one of the most basic things that any Huntsman or Huntress ought to know about. What sort of combat school would this guy have gone to that he didn't know about a simple thing like aura? "... If you'd like, I could help you unlock your aura, so that you can avoid injuries like this in the future."

"Really? You could?" Ren nodded and took his arms off of the injured arm, and Jaune let it fall back to his sides.

"Alright, look. Just sit right there, relax, and close your eyes." Jaune did as instructed, and Ren lightly pressed his hands against the blond's chest. His voice, though in murmurs and whispers, seemed to ring throughout the room, and the pink-eyed boy was enveloped by a violet-ish glow. Slowly, a glow of pure white slipped over Jaune as Ren continued his chant. After a few moments, the words ended, and Ren took his hands off of Jaune's chest.

"Wow..." Jaune felt as though he was suddenly super-charged with energy, and the white glow around him remained. "I feel... great."

"Well, now your aura is unlocked, Jaune," Ren said as he put his hands in his lap. "Now you can protect yourself from injuries like that, but you'll have to be careful about how you use it... Although..." As he looked at Jaune, he saw the blond's shoulder glow a bit brighter than the rest of him, and in moments the bruise had faded back to normal skin color, completely healed. "Judging by how much aura you seem to have... I don't think it'll be that much of a problem," he smiled.

Jaune turned to the other teen and smiled.

"Thanks for this, Ren. To be honest... I'm not really sure why I was the one picked as leader, but... I really want to do my best here. Really, thanks a lot, this is going to be a lot of help."

"Sure thing. We're teammates now, after all, we've got to help each other out." Ren looked at Jaune with surprise when the other put up his fist, but then smiled and gently bumped his fist against Jaune's. "Just let me know if there's anything else you need to know about aura." Though he was still curious as to why Jaune wouldn't know a thing about aura if he had gone to a combat school.

"Thanks. Oh, but... if you could just..." Ren raised an eyebrow. "Maybe if, I dunno... if you could not tell Ruby about this?"

"Not tell Ruby? Why?"

"Well, you know," Jaune said, looking awkward as he talked about her while he pulled on his shoulder armor again. "I'm supposed to be the leader, and she's my partner too, and she's already basically a prodigy and stuff and, well, if she knew that I didn't even have aura unlocked and all..." Ren made a noise of understanding, then nodded.

"Alright, then. I get it. If you don't want me to tell Ruby, I won't."

"Thanks, Ren." Not a few moments later, the door opened, and Ruby and Nora came in.

"We're back, Jaune."

"Hi Ren~" Nora immediately went to her childhood friend and began talking his ear off about the store and how everything was and all the new supplies she had bought. Ren sighed as he went back over to their side of the room, where Nora babbled on and on. Meanwhile, Ruby went and stood next to where Jaune was still sitting on his bunk.

"Hey Ruby, how was shopping?" The brunette shrugged and opened up her bag to show him the erasers and pencils she had bought.

"Oh, you know, it was alright. Nora sure can hold her cookies, though, I'll tell you that much~" she giggled. "So, what were you and Ren talking about when we came in?"

"Oh, he was just helping me out with something."


	7. Chapter 7

"_M'lady, our troops are progressing well." The maiden turned her head to her red-cloaked companion, who stood beside her on the slope as they observed the soldiers in the midst of their training. Metal clashed against metal, and brute strength challenged its kin as the many armored men and women honed their skills._

"_Of course they are," the general smiled softly. "All of these people are so very strong, they are truly fighting hard to train and protect our people, and the light that we so dearly love. We join together in this way, solely to defend all this which we care about. So many hearts beating as one, all for the sake of our noble cause." She smiled and held her hands at her breast, as though feeling the beat of her own heart was to feel the hearts of all those who trained til their breaths were ragged._

"_With you as our noble leader, taking this army to battle, I am certain that we shall claim victory." The maiden only shook her head softly, taking her hands away from her breast, and holding them down before her._

"_No, we shall not," she spoke softly. "We shall attain victory not because of myself. It shall be because of the iron wills, warm hearts, and pure souls of our warriors. And nothing less than that."_

–

"Haa!" Ren let out a small shout of exhertion as he slammed himself into the training dummy, slicing it to pieces in only a few quick motions of his pistol-blades. With a quick step to the ground, he launched himself into flip in the air, and brought himself down on the back of a large stuffed dummy in the shape of an Ursa.

Over in another corner of the training arena, Nora was whooping with glee as she jumped and launched herself about with her hammer, avoiding the many flying projectiles that were launching themselves at her from all directions. Any that she didn't dodge, she simply smashed to the side with her hammer.

And then there was Jaune, trying his best (and failing quite a bit) to train back and forth with the sword-fighting simulator. Things were going fairly well, he thought. Until, however, as he was going for the simulation dummy, a flash of red swooped in front of him, and took it down for him.

"Geaah!" He screeched himself to a halt, flailing his arms briefly as he tried to stop his sword in its tracks, to avoid hitting Ruby in the back. "Ruby?!" The brunette turned and smiled at him.

"Oh, hey Jaune," she smiled. Jaune rested his sword on the ground, looking over to where the shooting range was.

"Why are you over here? I thought you were supposed to be over in the target-shooting range improving your sniping skills." Ruby rolled her eyes and leaned against the blade of her scythe.

"My sniping skills are _fine_," she laughed. "I was hitting everything easy, and I got bored. So I decided I'd pop over here to join you." Jaune stared at her, and motioned to his sword.

"Ruby, you jumped right in front of me! I could have hit you with my sword!"

"Yeah, but you didn't. So it's all fine."

"Yeah, but Ruby, I-"

"Is something wrong over here?" The two looked up, and saw that Ren and Nora had also stopped their training exercises, and had come over to see what was going on.

"Are you guys fighting?" Nora asked with her head tilted. Ruby only shook her head.

"Nope, we're fine. Just Jaune got a little worked up because I interrupted him and his silly sword-fighting dummies.

"Wha- Ruby, you jumped right in front of me!" Jaune stumbled over his words. "I could have sliced right into your back!"

"But you didn't, so it's fine," Ruby insisted. "It's already been done, so don't worry about it." She turned to another area of the training arena. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna head over to the obstacle course."

"Obstacle course?!" Jaune asked aloud. "But, you were supposed to be going to where Nora is next, I wrote down that whole schedule and everything, and-"

"Jaune, I already know how to dodge things. You've seen my speed, I can avoid anything. I'm the fastest thing here at Beacon. I'll just do whatever I think I need."

"B-but... You can't just do that! I mean-"

"Well why not?" Ruby asked, putting her hands on her hips. "Your whole schedule is all stuff we already know, we don't need to go over it all again. It's not like we're in our first year of training in combat school. Right Ren? Nora?"

"Well-" Ren raised up a finger and opened his mouth.

"See? Like I said," Ruby interrupted, motioning towards the other two members of their team. "Your schedule was nice, but it's all kid stuff, we need more action! We need to make bigger, better moves so that we can take down the monsters! Not dumb stuff like the basics we all already know." Jaune gulped as he listened to Ruby's reasoning as to why they needed better things. It was true, they had already done so much to train and hone their skills. Meanwhile, he was the guy who had faked his transcripts and basically run away from home with his ancestors' stolen weapons to attend a combat school without his parents knowing so that he could become a hero. Not to mention not knowing about simple things like aura, and needing to have Ren unlock it for him not too long ago.

"Uh, guys?" Ren tried to interject, but it seemed that neither Jaune nor Ruby heard him, as they kept right on at it.

"But, still, you're really great, Ruby, but I'm still the leader, right? So shouldn't you be listening to me?"

"I dunno, should we? You're really nice, and smart, Jaune, but you're not all that great in a fight. Maybe you need all this stuff here, but we don't." Jaune spluttered a bit at Ruby's words.

"All I'm saying is-"

"Well you don't have to-"

The argument carried (much to their teammates' chagrin, all the way to the locker rooms, the dinner hall, and even back to their room. Even after all of this time going back and forth at each other, their arguments were still going strong, even though it felt like they were just beating on a dead Boarbatusk by this point.

"I'm just saying, I think you go a little wild sometimes, Ruby. You're really great at fighting, but-"

"Ugh! Why do you keep on going on about the training, Jaune?" Ruby groaned. "I do just great in a fight, that's why I'm here at this school. You can't tell me I'm doing bad just because I don't do things the way you want in our team training."

"It's not just in training, Ruby. Remember last week when Professor Goodwitch had us do that sparring? You jumped in front of me three times and blocked me, just like today!" He hadn't been sure if he would actually hit where he was aiming on his opponent, but still.

"I got him every time, and you were in trouble!"

"But you didn't give me a warning or anything. No 'heads up' or 'look out' or 'I've got this' or anything. What if you got hurt when you jumped in front of me? It's sort of hard to stop a sword in mid-swing." Ruby made a frustrated noise and gripped her hands a bit, even giving her foot a little stomp.

"Well, I wouldn't have needed to get in the way if you could have handled it, which you weren't going to be able to, by the looks of things the way they were then." Jaune tried to speak, but all that came out was a frustrated grunt.

"Ruby, look, I'm trying my best here at this leader stuff. I'm trying to get us training, and I'm trying to organize things together so that we can all improve." Himself especially, considering how much work he still had to do to work himself up from scratch. "But I just don't think we can do all that if you keep on running around and doing whatever it is you want." Ruby jumped and spluttered before she could manage to find her words to respond with.

"Wh-wha?! What are you talking about? I'm training and improving just fine on my own! Besides, all the stuff that you're having us learn is boring, basic stuff! We should be trying to learn new techniques and how to combine our strengths and stuff! We've all been training for years, we know all this stuff you're making us do already! We should be making ourselves even bigger and better!"

Well, that hurt a bit, but it was a righteous sting, in Jaune's own mind. That was right. Ren, Nora, and even Ruby, all of them had been training their whole lives to fight monsters. Him... he was just a guy who faked some transcripts because he wanted to follow in his family's footsteps... He really wasn't being fair to their years of training over him.

"Um, guys..." Jaune jumped a bit. That was right, he had completely forgotten about Ren and Nora being in the room with them. The two were staring right at their leader and teammate, Nora wasn't even fidgeting like she usually was. Jaune took a deep breath and tried to go on.

"Ruby, I-... I'm really trying my best here, but, if we're going to work together as a team... well, you can't just go off doing everything on your own just the way you'd like to. We have to all learn to work together and-"

"W-well, this way of doing things is boring! We've hardly done anything cool or fun or exciting! We need to train extra hard, not just with the basics! We'll never get anywhere if we just stick ourselves down in a rut!"

"All I'm trying to do is-!"

"But all you're doing is-!"

"Okay, I've had enough!" Both parties in the argument started when Ren suddenly spoke aloud. The green-clad boy went up to them both, and grabbed Jaune by the shoulders. "Jaune! Ruby has a point. We aren't going to get anywhere if we just focus on the same thing over and over. We need more diversity in what we do, otherwise we're never going to improve. We need to improve our strengths as we feel we need, and we need feedback from each other so that we can do that. But you also need to listen to all of us so that you can know _what_ we need improvement on. And you need to stop being so wishy-washy in your decisions. No one is going to respect a leader who can't firmly decide upon something."

Ruby felt a bit pleased, thinking that Ren was taking her side. However, the next moment, it was _her_ shoulders being gripped, and Ren's neon pink eyes were boring into her as he spoke.

"Ruby! You need to remember that _Jaune_ _is the leader_. You can't just run off all pell-mell just because you think that you can do something better on your own. If you feel like something can be done better another way, then _tell him that_. Professor Ozpin made him the leader for a reason, and we all need to respect that." Ruby lowered her eyes a bit as Ren's words sunk in, but a quick shake by him brought her eyes back up. "We're a team, but we're never going to be able to function as one if we can't communicate with each other. Everyone has to listen, no matter how good we think we are alone."

Ren sighed and took his hands off of Ruby, and the blond and brunette stood there, glancing at Ren, then each other. Ren sighed and brushed off his sleeves.

"Don't forget, we're all teammates, but you guys are more than that together. You're both partners. You can't let yourselves get so worked up about such a petty argument. We're going to be together for four years, and you two are going to be a single unit together, even if our team isn't all together at any time. You need to remember that." Ren motioned to the door, still looking at the two of them seriously. "Nora and I are going to go out to the hallway while you two work out your problems together. Call us back in again once you guys have kissed and made up. Come on, Nora."

"Okey dokey~" With that, Ren left the room, followed by Nora, they closed the door behind them, leaving Jaune and Ruby standing awkwardly, alone. They avoided looking at each other for as long as possible, but the silence was just unbearable.

"Jaune-""Ruby-" They both stopped after one word, realizing they were speaking at the same time. "It's okay-" "You can go first if-" They had done it again. "You go first-" "No really you-" They looked at each other for a long time, but then broke into slightly nervous, slightly relieved giggles. When this small fit of giggling was over, Ruby spoke first so that they could actually get on with saying something.

"Jaune, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to try and act like the team, or you being leader, doesn't matter. It's just, when I go into battle, it's like everyone and everything else disappears. I just do what feels natural, because I think that's what's right, but... Well... maybe what _feels_ right isn't always _really_ right." She looked down with those bright silver eyes of hers, and shrugged weakly.

"I'm sorry, too, Ruby," Jaune sighed. "I haven't been the best leader, I know. I just... I wanted to be a Huntsman, but I never really thought about anyone else either, I guess. I was thinking about the team, but not the people on it. I haven't... exactly had the sort of training you've had, I guess." Make that no training at all, but that wasn't something he was willing to confess to quite yet. "I should have considered every person on the team individually, and not just as one big group... Guess we both have something to improve on, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess we do..." Ruby shrugged.

"So... forgive me, Ruby?" Ruby looked at him and smiled.

"Only if you forgive me." The two of them started laughing a big more, both feeling a great sense of relief. Team, and partner, conflicts were something they might go through often, it seemed that they had gotten through their first one unscathed. Still, it felt a bit odd to just leave it like this... "So... should we... kiss and make up?" Even after Ruby let that slip out of her mouth, she knew it was a mistake to say it aloud. Both Jaune and Ruby immediately blushed and looked away from each other, feeling incredibly awkward. There was a bit of silence for a moment, before they looked back at each other.

"Um... maybe we could just hug and make up instead?" Jaune suggested softly. Ruby blinked at him, but then smiled and giggled softly.

"Sure, that sounds better." She opened up her arms in offering, and Jaune came forward and wrapped his arms around her. Ruby did the same when he hugged her, and they stood there in their embrace. As Ruby was about a good two heads shorter than him, her face wound up in his chest, and Jaune had his chin just above the top of her head. _Wow... he's really warm, and he smells nice. I always thought that boys would smell sweaty and gross, but... this is actually nice_, Ruby thought softly. She had never done anything romantic or anything, so the only man she had ever hugged was her father, and that was just a familial warmth of course. But hugging Jaune, the warmth was... different.

_Wow, she's so tiny_, Jaune thought to himself. _Like a little kitten, or a puppy... but she's warm._ The two of them stood there a while, simply hugging. However, after a while, it started feeling a bit less warm and a bit more awkward. "Um... should we let go soon? I mean, if you want to, that is."

"I think so. Um... do you wanna' let go first?" Ruby asked. This was getting a bit embarrassing now. She wouldn't mind the hug lasting a bit longer, but would it sound weird if she said that?

"Uh... how about if we let go at the same time?"

"Yeah, sure, that sounds good. Um... count of three?"

"Alright." They stood there a moment longer, trying to decide on this. "Um... _on_ three, or _after_ three?"

"On, I think," Ruby answered.

"Okay, okay, gotcha." They both stood there hugging a bit longer as they tried to decide when to start counting. However, in the end, they got it.

"Alright. One... two... three." On three, they finally unwrapped their arms from one another, and they stood there with their arms beside them, both sort of wishing that the hug had lasted just a bit longer.

"So... should we go and get Ren and Nora from the hall?" Jaune asked, pointing his thumb to the door. Ruby smiled and nodded.

"Sure, let's go get them from the hall."

–

A/N: You didn't think everything would be all sugar and sweet things all the way through, did you? Don't worry, though, more sweet things to come, just you wait~

On a side-note, yay for Ren for being the voice of reason~


	8. Chapter 8

_The woodcutter watched as the young men stormed from the general's tent, looking rather peeved indeed. The blonde huntress watched them go, a look of sorrow in her eyes as they made their way to the guest tents. It would be too risky for them to leave with night almost upon them. No matter how they wanted to leave after their argument failed, even they knew better than to run off at night in such Grimm infested territory._

"_My brothers still cannot understand all I am trying to do," the maiden said softly, a sigh escaping her lips. "They believe this war is too great a one for me to fight. Too dangerous for their little sister."_

"_Even after so many tales of your great feats have spread throughout the land?" her partner in arms questioned. Word of her doings and her leadership had spread far and wide by now. Any who spoke of the King's armies would know of this warrior maiden who had inspired new breath into their fight. Who had inspired so many and roused even the weariest of hearts._

"_I was never a warrior," she murmured, "and I still am not. I am, however, someone who believes that this war against the creatures of Grimm must be fought. If we do not light a way through the darkness, then no one will dare tread where their fears lay." She held her hands before her, gazing as her siblings disappeared into their tents._

"_And what of your family?" the woodcutter asked, pulling his cloak around himself to guard against a light chill that the breeze had stirred up. "Does it hurt you that they don't believe in you?"_

"_...No," she smiled slightly at last, bringing her hands up over her heart. "Their desire against my fight is not because they lack belief. It is because they fear for me. No matter how strong I am, they still worry about my wellbeing... and I am grateful for that." She turned her head, eyes still bright as ever as she gazed at her companion. "But I have no doubt in my mind. Even if they do not wish for me to fight, they will still support me. I can always feel their love surrounding me, more powerful and protective than any aura. And it is with that belief and love for me that I shall use to steady my hand and sharpen my blade, because they give me all the more reason to be strong."_

–

"So then I said, Boarbatusk? More like Boarba'crust'! Eh?... eh?" Jaune looked at his teammates, wanting to see how the punchline had tickled them. Only Nora was snorting at his joke, Ruby just smiled good naturedly at his bad attempt, and Ren said nothing. "Aw, come on guys, you have to admit _that_ one was pretty good."

"Ehhhh..." Ruby shrugged, making vague gestures with her hands. Jaune groaned. Why did all of his jokes always fall flat with his group?

It had been a couple of months since the Beacon school year had begun. Team JRRN was progressing nicely, especially Jaune himself. Since Ren had unlocked his aura, things seemed to be going a bit more smoothly. Cardin had laid off of him after an incident in the forest, and so far, no one had learned of his secret.

All in all, seemed as though life was finally starting to look his way~

"_Jaune?_" … Oooh no. Ooooooh no no no no _nooo_. If there was _ever_ a time that he didn't want to hear that voice _ever_, that would be here and now. Slowly, Jaune looked over his shoulder, and all the things he didn't wish to be true were right there before him.

Looking at him with surprised blue eyes, there she was. Jocelyne Arc, oldest in line of the Arc family, professional huntress, well known throughout the land.

His oldest sister.

Who had apparently gotten over her surprise and was marching over to him, the cape over her one shoulder fluttering madly and the metal soles of her boots 'clack'ing against the ground as she approached. Next he knew, he was being pulled forward by the collar of his shirt, and she was hissing at him.

"_Jaune! What on earth are you doing here?! What are you doing with that sword?! Do mom and dad have any idea that you're-_"

"Uhh... Jaune?" Jocelyne looked up as Ruby's timid voice sounded, and found all the rest of his team looking at them with confusion. Rather easily, given the situation, his sister let go of his shirt front and locked her arm around her younger sibling's neck, grasping him tight and keeping him from running.

"Ah, hey there, kids. Nice day out, isn't it? Think you might be able to give us a minute, this guy and I need to have a chat." Before any could answer, she shot them a thumbs up and dragged her sibling away. "Great, kay thanks, we won't be too long, bye~"

Even with Jaune struggling, she dragged him around behind the closest building into the darkest corner before she let him go. While Jaune was rubbing at his neck where she had gripped him, Jocelyne was tapping her foot with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Alright, brother, I think you have a bit of explaining to do to your big sister. And don't even _think_ about trying to lie your way out of this, because if you do you're going to be washing more than just soap out of your mouth." Jaune gulped at her threat, knowing all too well just how serious she was being about it. The last time one of their other sisters had lied about something, she was scrubbing the taste of boot leather out of her mouth for two days.

"Okay, okay, just, calm down," he tried to ease her temper. She was looking at him expectantly, and he sighed, rubbing at his neck. "Well, see, the thing is... you know how you and most of our sisters are Huntresses, and how dad was a Huntsman, and Grandpa, and Great Grandpa and so on?..." She nodded that she did, and he went on. "W-well... I've always wanted to be one like you guys, but you know how mom and dad never let me attend a combat school. So, when... when I told them I had gotten accepted to Roscuro Academy for the Artistically Gifted... I was lying... because that acceptance was really for Beacon."

"_What?!_" Jocelyne snapped. "Jaune, are you _insane_?! You _lied_ to mom and dad?! How did you even get into here when you don't have any paperwork that you ever attended a combat school!?" When her sibling started rubbing at the back of his neck, she prepared herself to hear the worst.

"Well, you see, the thing about that is... I maybe, kinda... _got my hands on some fake transcripts and submitted those so I could come here._"

"_Jaune!_" He winced as his sister snapped at him, her eyes sparking. "I cannot _believe_ you did this! Do you have _any_ idea just how much trouble you could get in?! This isn't some kind of game, brother, this is _real_ danger! You are in a school meant to train people to fight monsters and villains! And this is no fairy tale story! You can get hurt doing this, Jaune, you could _die_." She stood with a growl of frustration, glaring at her younger brother. "Alright, that does it. I'm bringing you home. _Right now_."

"W-wait, no!" Jaune shouted, startling his sister a bit.

"What do you mean, 'no'?! You are way in over your head, baby brother, and you need to wake up! This is not some stupid game! This is your _life_! You don't know how to do this, you're just going to weigh down your team and your leader!"

"But I _am_ the leader!" Jocelyne paused, taking in what he had just said.

"...What?"

"I... I'm my team's leader, Professor Ozpin put me to the position," Jaune explained. He felt like he had to speak quickly, otherwise his sister would stop listening. "I know it must sound stupid to you, me being a leader, but I'm really working hard at this school! I'm learning how to be a good leader and a teammate. I-if I left, my partner, Ruby, would be all alone! And we've really started learning to work together, she's using her gun scythe to help us out instead of just charging into battle! And Ren and Nora, they're such awesome friends and they're really all helping me out! And... and... I can't just leave them like this! We're a team and we've all come so far now..." He looked at his sister, eyes pleading. "Please, Jocelyne, don't make me leave Beacon. You don't have to do anything, just don't say anything to mom or dad. I'll train hard, and I won't hold back my team, and I'll be a great Huntsman that the whole family can be proud of."

Jocelyne stared down at her younger sibling, eyes boring into him. He waited on pins and needles, anxious to see if she would do as he pleaded, or drag him back home by the fabric of his hoodie.

"... I can't believe I'm doing this," she groaned, rubbing at her temples at her thumb and forefinger with one hand. Jaune's face lit up, intaking a deep gasp of breath.

"Do you mean... you're not gonna' take me home? I can stay?!"

"Against my better judgment... no, I'm not going to take you back home," Jocelyne sighed. "You can stay here and keep attending and training, and I won't say anything to mom or dad. _But_-" she kept going, looking at him sharply, "if I hear that you got hurt bad, or think that you're getting in too far over your head, I'm barging back over here and dragging you back home by that dorky short sleeved hoodie of yours. Got that?"

"Y-yeah... I get it," Jaune smiled weakly. Jocelyne sighed, putting her hands on her hips.

"Alright... I guess I'd better get going then," she said. "Need to meet back up with my team." She scribbled something onto a piece of paper she'd pulled from her pocket, and handed it to him. "If you run into any trouble, then you call me at this number. I'll decide if it's of the magnitude I need to take you home at. Get it?"

"Got it," Jaune replied as he took it from her.

"Good." Jocelyne ran her fingers through her bangs, looking down at him. "Why did you have to grow up and be so much like... oh well," she muttered. "Maybe it's just more proof that you're _my_ baby brother." She slapped him on the shoulder, and walked off the way she had dragged him by. "You take care of yourself, remember what I said... And train hard."

"I will, thanks." He watched her walk off, shoulder cape fluttering slightly in the breeze. After tucking the paper into one of his pockets, he made his way back to his team. All three were still waiting for him, and looked at him expectantly as he returned.

"Welcome back, Jaune," Nora cheered as Ren grunted. Ruby looked at her partner curiously, some worry in her eye.

"You okay, Jaune? What was all that about?" Jaune paused, considering how he might have been able to explain all of that.

"Oh, just... needed to have a talk with my sister."


End file.
